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When it comes down to scale modeling with Legos a lot has happened over the last years. Its more and more recognized as a true scale modelers medium, and I think that is great. About three years ago I decided to build more different things then only the trucks that I had built so far. I built Harley Davidsons, Hot rods, and started with trains. After the two big 1:16 scaled American diesels, I thought it would be nice to have something dynamic for events: A true scale locomotive on actual Lego rail gauge. I opted for the Union Pacific Big Boy: (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy" rel="nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy</a>). There are already many models of this type of locomotive but I wanted one for myself as it has always appealed to me since I was a kid. I did some math calculating back from the Lego track gauge, coming to a 1:38 scale. Building such a big locomotive to run on Lego rail is a bit of a challenge. I had to deal with the following facts: -The standard Lego curve is too tight for such a long locomotive. Therefor I chose the Radius 104 aftermarket rail. -The wheels are not existing as such. In diameter 45 mm there is nothing available from the shelf. I worked together with Jaap Kroon to design and 3D print a set of custom wheels. To make it look more realistic I chose to add the valve gear as well. We designed the valve gear with Lego compatibility in the back of our heads. It should not become too fine compared to the bricks. -Power. This thing is heavy. And it has a lot of batteries to add to the weight. The solution was three genuine Lego Power Functions XL engines directly geared to the axles of the tender. I chose the tender to push the locomotive as it was much more convenient to house the engines and batteries there. In order to get all the ‘juice’ to the engine I chose a regular RC Battery pack and the Tamiya connector was hooked up to a PF cable. To control it I mounted a SBrick, so there is no restriction of battery power in the whole system. -Lights. I wanted to add some realistic lights as well. Initially I wanted a smoke generator but the proper 5V kit was not available anymore, so I dropped it (for now). Rob from Brickstuff.com supplied a very cool lightkit for the locomotive. It includes a dimmer for the contour lights. All in all there is about 2 meters of wire in the locomotive. It took me about 2.5 months to finish. Specifications (locomotive and tender) Length: +/- 106 cm Width: +/- 9 cm Height: +/- 13 cm Bricks: +/- 3400 A big thanks to Rob @ <a href="http://www.brickstuff.com" rel="nofollow">www.brickstuff.com</a> and Jaap Kroon for the 3D printing support.
